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Reunion
- estimated 120,000 Tamils
(including second language speakers) live in Reunion -
Ethnologue Database: Reunion
Reunion Tamils stage Sit In to protest against genocide of Tamils in Sri
Lanka - 21 February 2009
A sit in was organized to support Tamils of Sri Lanka by
Reunion Island 's TAMIL SANGAM presided by Dr.Shanmugam. hundreds of
tamilians and non tamilians protested against the programmed genocide of
Tamilians of Sri Lanka. A banner written in French said "Halt to the
genocide of Tamils in Sri lanka" photos of the atrocities commited on
civilians by Sri Lankan army were displayed. Local Tamil girls read a French
poem written by a child victim of the war.The president of Tamil Sangam
denounced the apathy of the international community and asked the
intervention on India and the United Nations to stop the killings.
Indentured immigration and social accommodation in La Réunion
- Christian Ghasarian, Center for South Asia Studies, University of
California-Berkeley
Tamils in the Diaspora are living in various places among
which the French Island of La Réunion in the Indian Ocean.
Settled in this relatively isolated Island since the second part
of the last century, Tamils have developed some patterns of
behavior that are not quite those of their ancestors from Tamil
Nadu nor those of the other inhabitants of La Réunion.
Anthropological investigations nevertheless show that despite a
strong policy of acculturation and assimilation led by the
French administration on the populations transferred to the
Island, people of Tamil origin have managed to maintain, in an
adapted manner, most of their ancestral conceptions and
practices. An examination at some of these conceptions and
practices allows to catch a glance at the strengths and adaptive
resources of the Tamil culture.
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Firewalking in Reunion
"..Most fire walkers in French-speaking Reunion
are Tamil. Their ancestors were the first to arrive from India
to work on the island, located east of Madagascar, as cane
laborers. Life at that time was difficult, but their adherence
to the practices of their religion and culture kept them strong
and united. Still today, this spirit of respect for ancestral
tradition binds them together in a land where they are—as they
have always been—very much in the minority among the 750,000
people in this Overseas Department (state) of France..."
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